Presider: Fr. Matthew Widder Parish: Holy Name of Jesus & St. Clement Choir: Holy Apostles www.MySundayMass.org Text from the Gsopel and Homily: The Lord be with you. And with your spirit. A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke. Glory to you o Lord. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis and Lysanias and tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of the Lord came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert. John went out through the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his pass, every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and winding roads shall be made straight and rough roads will be made smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ There is a certain phenomenon that takes place in Wisconsin where I am a pastor, every Sunday afternoon. From all around Wisconsin there is a procession of cars often heading to one place. That one place is Lambeau Field and what always surprises me about this procession that takes place on Sundays to Lambeau Field, especially in December it can be negative 20 degrees outside, there could be a foot of snow, no one will be outside, people will say stay in our homes and somehow 70,000 people who would otherwise would go nowhere else, somehow end up at Lambeau Field in the freezing cold, will pay money to do so. There is nothing stopping that from taking place, that sense of this is where we have to go. The roads are going to be made straight one way or the other. You know, I think of that example because the letter of Saint Paul to the Philippeans. He has a special prayer that he wants each of us to pray. He says my prayer for you is this, that your love may increase and in every sense of perception and knowledge that you may discern what is the perhaps of God, that you may discern God's plan. What do we love? What do we love and are we loving the things that God wants us to love? We can prepare the way to get to Lambeau Field, can we prepare the way in our hearts to encounter Jesus Christ? Because love changes us in this season of Advent, we are preparing to be changed by Christ. When I meet with wedding couples that are preparing for the sacrament of marriage I like to say, how have you changed since you met your partner? Often times husbands will say, well I know something about scrapbooking now, wives will say I know the starting lineup for my husband’s favorite sports team. Love changes us and ultimately they say I think less about myself and more open to others. That's what this season of Advent is all about, to look into our hearts and to say, what do I love, what do I make sacrifices for that is not of Jesus Christ? Because what we love changes us and shapes us, so what are we preparing the way for the Lord for? What are we making straight the pass in our lives for? If it is not of Jesus this is the perfect opportunity to surrender it. To surrender to the path of Jesus Christ, to surrender to that path that Saint Paul says, that path of joy. Please, God, fill our hearts with your love this Advent season.

• published: 05 Dec 2015
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